Running Roundup # 11

After a week with no running due to a calf muscle niggle, I'm back at it with no injury worries, hooray 🙌

On Saturday I went out with my C25K group, in bitterly cold weather, and not intending on extending that mileage as I have done in  previous weeks because I was due to run in the Weston Super Half the next day. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and with very cold temperatures, snow and ice, the organisers made the decision to cancel this event, as did the organisers of the Newport half marathon and many other races across the country.

This was the second time that the Newport half had been cancelled due to the weather and since then the organisers have made the decision to totally cancel the event for this year, but it will be back on March 3rd 2019. But they have done totally the right thing in giving runners options to defer their place to next year, (which I have done), get a refund, or donate their payment and still receive their medal and T shirt. I can't see that the organisers could be any fairer than that and I applaud them for it. I am waiting to hear from the organisers of the Weston event to see if they are going to reschedule their race or not.

Tuesday evening is club night, and this evenings run was the Yewberry Yomp, a run along the Caerleon cycle track, then up the steep hill which is Yewberry Lane, followed by the downhill section on Brynglas Rd going over the M4 motorway, turn right and up the hill on Malpas Rd, then right again by CJ's fish & chip shop and home the way we came.

I was pleased with this run in every respect, with good pace, and I even ran non stop all the way to the top of Yewberry Lane, which is pretty steep. And when I checked my stats on Strava, it showed a marked increase in my speed compared to when I last ran this route back in July 2017. However, my heart rate graph was off the chart in some parts and I daren't post it here because it's just too scary 😅

The comparison between yesterday and July 2017

I have been struggling with sleep deprivation for about the last two months, and my intention was to run with the C25K group on Thursday evening and follow it with the club speed/interval/hill session, but after a terrible nights sleep on Wednesday, which made me suffer terribly in work, I decided that I was just going to get out with the newbies and then get off home and try to get a better nights sleep.

So this was day 3 of week 6 for the C25K group where they had to run for 25 minutes non stop along a path on the Celtic Manor golf course, and boy did they do well. They all did it, one or two did struggle a little, and others felt that they could have gone on longer.

Saturday will be day 1 in week 7 and the group will be running the same 25 minutes non stop at Riverfront Parkrun.

Now I have been running to Parkrun and back to extend my mileage as part of my marathon training, however this week I will be driving there and only running the 5 miles as on Sunday I am running in the Gloucester 20 mile race, which will be my second 20 miler and my final  long run before I begin to taper back the mileage. I can't believe there are only two weeks left to go before the big day 😲.

Wish me luck guys and girls and I shall write up a report on this race in next weeks Weekly Running Roundup # 12.

Until then, keeeeep running 😃